Instructional Strategies

One of the main goal or teachers is to implement teaching strategies that are going to pique student interest and maximize engagement. Below you will find a list of strategies aimed to meet these goals as well as some resources to access when searching for fun, new ideas.

Introductory Activities

KWL Chart- students complete a chart of what they know prior to beginning a lesson, what they want to know, and then at the end, what they learned.Mystery Box - Have a box of artifacts, etc that may be used or discussed in the upcoming lesson/unit.Classroom poll - Take a classroom poll to judge the knowledge base.

Developmental Activities

Jigsaw - Class activity where students are grouped in homogenous groups to become an expert in a particular area, then the groups split into heterogeneous groups and teach one another about their 'specialty' area.4 Corners - Students take a physical stand in a corner to represent what they feel.Pitch-it - Building an argument and pitching it to others to convince them.Placemat - Good for a think-pair-share type activity. Students write their thoughts individually in their own assigned section and then they collaborate ideas in the middle sectionGallery Walk - Groups become experts in one area and then display their work. Students walk around the class looking at other groups' work.Graphic Organizers - A great way to help students take notes - writing things down helps the brain remember what is being learned. This link offers a ton of free Graphic Organizers!

Concluding Activities

Reverse Mystery Box - Pull items from a box and encourage students to make a connection between the item and what they just learned.